Summary
In this episode of the podcast, “Managing Your Surveying Organization’s Liability With Good Job Documentation,” I talk about the critical role that thorough documentation plays in protecting your land surveying business from liability. I explain how strong documentation can help navigate professional liability claims, where the standard of care is evaluated, and breach of contract claims, where your adherence to the agreed-upon scope of work is examined. I share a personal story about a time when my company faced financial liability because a technical report was missing a date—a small oversight that had serious consequences.
I outline three main categories of job documentation that are essential: contract documents, important communications, and technical reports. Contract documents, like detailed scopes of service and requests for additional services, should clearly define the work being performed. Important communications, especially emails, need to be clear, direct, and quick to correct any inaccuracies. Technical reports—often neglected by surveyors—are vital for capturing metadata, outlining methodology, and recording the findings of surveys.
While documentation might seem tedious, I stress that it’s crucial for avoiding financial losses, insurability issues, and the stress that comes with legal disputes. I also share some of the documentation best practices we follow at my company, such as performing file audits, organizing emails, backing up digital records, recording calculations and professional judgments, communicating risks to clients, maintaining a library of report templates, and ensuring all documentation is complete before a job is closed. I even offer to share our technical report templates to help others in the profession improve their documentation standards.
Contents
- 0:00 Introduction and Topic of the Episode
- 0:18 Personal Anecdote
- 2:30 Motivation for the Topic
- 3:15 Why Good Documentation is Important
- 4:18 What Type of Liability Are We Talking About?
- 8:16 What Type of Job Documents Do You Need?
- 16:00 Best Practices for Documentation
- 19:00 Example of a Technical Report
- 20:42 Next Episode Topic and Book Update
- 21:09 Patreon and Contact Information
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